A visit to Simply Natural Soap Making Supplies at Caboolture

While I was on the Sunshine Coast recently a friend drove me to Caboolture as we were keen to have a look at the Simply Natural Soap Making Supplies outlet there which is nestled in the Industrial Estate.

The owner of the store, Yvonne Cowell, is an experienced soap maker with 20 years of experience behind her.

She is certainly very helpful and answered our many questions about soap making especially concerning the use of clays and essential oils. Yvonne had just sent a lot of stock to the Better Homes and Gardens Live Show in Sydney where she was an exhibitor but there was still plenty to look at.

 There are so many products you can buy to add to your soap making experience if you want to but if not, you can still make a lovely soap just using the basic oils and lye without adding clays, colours and essential oils.  Since starting to make my own soap I have kept the batches fairly simple but am now keen to try some clays and recently bought some essential oils when they were on special at a local health food shop. I had been reluctant to use the oils though as they are very expensive for such a small bottle.

 I often see Shea Butter included in soap recipes and was interested to see what it looks like.

 I was fascinated by the colours of the clays particularly the Pink Australian Clay and the Green French Argiletz Clay both of which ended up in my bag :-)

Yvonne also sells a variety of soap moulds and I just loved these wooden ones.  There is quite a variety of kits which are available for those who would like to have a go at trying to make bath bombs, candles, lip balm, soap etc. 

Candle Making Supplies

 I haven't visited a soap supplies store before and it was so very interesting and enjoyable. I had bought a couple of soap moulds online from another outlet when I first started making soap and before I realised I could just use the silicone ones from local shops. That was it as regards buying online. However, it really is worth taking the time to check out Yvonne's products if you are ever in the Sunshine Coast area and, of course, you can order online. 

I ended up buying some Cocoa Butter, Australian Pink Clay and Green French Argiletz Clay to add to soap, Sodium Bentonite Clay and Zinc Oxide Powder to make deodorant,  a deodorant container and a timber soap dish to stop the soap from going mushy by draining off the water. 

There are also some recipes and ideas on Yvonne's website and she has a couple of ebooks for $3.95 each. For those into Facebook there is also a Facebook page. She is now back from the show in Sydney and I am sure she would be happy to answer any questions you may have about her products if you give her a ring or call into the shop in Caboolture. 

While I was in Caloundra I rang the CEO to tell him to look out for a parcel in the mail in case it was put on the front verandah by the Postie as it might get wet during storms. He said one had arrived so I asked him to open it as it was from my swap partner on the Down to Earth Forum and we are in the middle of a 'Something for Christmas' swap at present. 

 Inside was a lovely padded coathanger, tallow soap and what the CEO called..'a triangular thing'.

 He thought it was a purse so I was quite intrigued and when I got home I opened it up and it is the cutest pin and needle holder. Later on I accidentally came across a card and recipe that had been included as well which the CEO had forgotten about. ;-) I loved my swap items. However, I had left the gift I was making my partner at home when I left for the beach as I thought I would be too busy to make it when on holidays but found that I could have been doing some sewing while I was there. So my very generous friend who took me to the soap supplies outlet brought me some fabric, needles, cotton, scissors etc.....

...and this was the result...an embellished Woolies bag. I also picked up an 'I'm behind with my reading bookmark' with a behind on it when we were at the Arts and Craft Fair, a Sunshine Coast calendar and a postcard with Flo's pumpkin scones recipe on the back. From the sounds of it my swap partner was really happy with her parcel like I was. The swaps are so much fun!

On Saturday we are having our final Simple Living Toowoomba meeting for the year so I had better get myself organised. It is going to be 35C here on Saturday which is hot for us but it is much worse elsewhere in Australia at the moment with the possibility of bushfires in South Australia and elsewhere.

Stay safe everyone if you are in these areas.